Windows NT 4.0 can be installed in a virtual machine using the standard Windows NT CD.
Note: Some Microsoft Windows NT OEM disks included with new computers are customized for those computers and include device drivers and other utilities specific to the hardware system. Even if you can install this Windows NT operating system on your actual computer, you may not be able to install it in a virtual machine. You may need to purchase a new copy of Windows to install in a virtual machine.
Note: If you are going to run a Windows NT virtual machine with IDE virtual disks on a multiprocessor host computer, you may notice slower than expected disk input/output performance. For more information, see Disk Performance in Windows NT Guests on Multiprocessor Hosts on page 361.
Before installing the operating system, be sure that you have already created a new virtual machine and configured it using the VMware GSX Server Configuration Wizard.
Use the VMware GSX Server Configuration Editor to verify the virtual machine's devices are set up as you expect before starting the installation. For example, if you would like networking software to be installed during the Windows NT installation, be sure the virtual machine's Ethernet adapter is configured and enabled. VMware also recommends that you disable the screen saver on the host system before starting the installation process.
To install Windows NT into a virtual machine:
The feature can be enabled after Windows NT has been successfully installed. You need the NT Service Pack 3 or 4 CD to enable this option. Once the virtual machine is running Windows NT, insert the SP3 or SP4 CD in the drive, navigate to the \SUPPORT\UTILS\I386 directory and double-click DMACHECK.EXE. When the program runs, click the Enabled option for the IDE controller/channel that is configured with the virtual disk (typically channel 0 only, unless you have the virtual machine configured with multiple virtual disks). DMA should not be enabled for any IDE channel that has a CD-ROM drive configured for it. Doing so causes an error.
Note: DMA is always enabled on SCSI virtual disks.
Note: If you have a virtual disk and a CD-ROM attached as master and slave to the primary IDE controller (channel 0) and you want to enable DMA, power off the virtual machine and use the Configuration Editor to move the CD-ROM to the secondary IDE controller (channel 1) at IDE 1:0. Then boot the virtual machine with Windows NT, run the DMACHECK.EXE program as described above and enable DMA for channel 0 only.
Be sure to install VMware Tools in your in your guest operating system.
To set up a virtual machine running Windows NT 4.0 and using multiple disks, you must first create a virtual machine with only one disk. Install Windows NT on that disk. Then use the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) to add the additional disks.
In addition, note that if you have a Windows NT 4.0 guest with a SCSI virtual disk, you cannot add both an additional SCSI disk and an IDE disk to the configuration.
The VMware GSX Server sound device is disabled by default and must be enabled with the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) after the operating system has been installed.
If networking was disabled at the time you installed Windows NT, you can enable it after the operating system has been installed.
On a Linux host with an XFree86 3.x X server, it is best not to run a screen saver in the guest operating system. Guest screen savers that demand a lot of processing power can cause the X server on the host to freeze.
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